The first snow of the season is covering the upper reaches of Mt. Katahdin. I sure hope that this early snow is a good sign of things to come. We deserve a break after three years of no snow until mid January. Like Bing Crosby said in his famous song, I too am “dreaming of a White Christmas”! Who would have ever thought that we residents of Northern Maine would have to hope for snow at Christmas?
Not a whole lot to report on this month. Part of the new ITS 83 trail has already been cut by the fellerbuncher and the planned excavation should take place by the beginning of November. Even though the vast majority of the work will have been done by machines we still have lots of “hand work” to do before the snow flies. Call us if you can help on any of these fall weekends. Another big project has also been completed this fall. The really bad section of trail that has plagued us for years is now a nice gravel road. I’m talking about the very first section of trail that we encounter as we leave South Twin Lake. From the first highway crossing at Route 11 all the way to Partridge Brook has been completely “renovated” and is now in such good condition that we can drive the 1.3 miles from highway crossing to highway crossing, even in a Ford ! The contractor hauled 488 14 yard wheeler loads of fill to complete the project. That’s a lot of dirt. Total project cost was just shy of $14,000. That’s a lot of money. Fortunately, the State will reimburse us for 70% of that or roughly $9800.
Trail maintenance will obviously be much easier and in low snow years we will be able to take the groomers through that section of trail rather than running alongside the highway. There are still two problem areas on the Katahdin Loop Trail that need to be addressed, near the top of Ragged Mountain and near West Ragged Pond. Our objective is to be able to provide quality riding even in low snow conditions.
You should have received membership renewal info in the mail several weeks ago. Please get your checks and any new info back to us as soon as possible.
Once again, if you can lend a hand with preseason trail work, give us a call.